Differences in Belonging Among Underrepresented Minority and First-Generation College Students in an Introductory STEM Course

• In Event: Fostering STEM Belonging and Equity Across Diverse Students and Contexts: The Promise of Asset-Based Instruction

Abstract

Research suggests that college STEM environments are less likely to support sense of belonging for underrepresented racial/ethnic minority (URM) students and first-generation (FG) college students. In the current study (N = 1,682), we examined five indicators of social and academic belonging in a gateway introductory science course for STEM majors to determine whether these groups experience the same or different belonging concerns. Our results suggested that although URM and FG students’ sense of belonging includes many similarities, there are also unique challenges for each group. URM students reported lower belonging with peers, whereas FG students reported lower academic belonging related to science coursework. Furthermore, our examination of potential explanatory variables suggested that their belonging concerns were explained by different mechanisms.

Authors

• Stacy J. Priniski, Michigan State University

• Garam A. Lee, Michigan State University

• Delaram A. Totonchi, University of Virginia

• Tony Perez, Old Dominion University

• Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia, Michigan State University